Make the BEST first impression with your entry because sometimes that’s all people see. Of course your family and good friends come and go and may not even use your front door, but I always want our front entry to be spotless and inviting. One thing I do often (almost daily) is either sweep or blow off the dust on the porch. I clean the door with window spray to remove any fingerprints and then use that cloth to clean the wood part of the door, the mailbox and the ledges. It takes just a few minutes out of my morning and I’m usually drinking coffee while I do it. About every other week I hose off the porch and really give it a good scrub. Our house is not the biggest house we’ve ever owned, but the entry is about as charming as any house we’ve had in the past. Our planters are never bare. In the summer we usually have ferns, but this year we decided to try boxwood topiaries. They are staked to keep them standing tall and I replace the bright green tape from Home Depot with natural twine. (It’s the little things). In the fall I will find a new home for the boxwoods and replace them with mums. Mums typically last only a month or so, I’ll put the boxwoods back and maybe add some sugar pumpkins at the base to get us through Thanksgiving. The minute Thanksgiving is over I’ll find something ever green to get us through until Spring. I have liners inside the Ikea galvanized planters so that excess water does not end up on the porch. I change my “hello” to happy birthday, welcome home or whatever occasion we’re celebrating with a water-based Sharpie paint pen.
Our house was built in 1900 and has lots of little quirks and a few challenges. We wanted to add hooks to this wall in the entry to make it more practical, but of course the plaster walls made it impossible. My nephew and I found this old piece of salvaged wood in Red Hook, Brooklyn right after Hurricane Sandy. Ryan was attending Fordham at the time and we were leaving the Ikea Brooklyn on a freezing January day when we noticed all this debris. Ryan being 20 years old insisted we needed to bring some stuff home. About a year later, my husband used it to create our coat rack. We used some here too.
I get a lot of questions about the copper lanterns and I wish I had an answer, but there are no markings on them. They appear to be very old and probably hand made. If the house didn’t have the lanterns I would have used these from Barn Light Electric. Our planters are from Ikea and I’m not sure if they still have them in-store. I could not find them on their website, but these from Target are similar in look and size. The jute border rug from Serena & Lily comes in a lot of sizes and wears like a champ! I love a modern mix so I used modern house numbers and the clear glass globe light fixture inside from west elm. So that is our little entryway that I must say is inspired by this one from fauxmartha! Stops me in my tracks every time and reminds me that this is why I happen to love a black & white house. I just do!
This just might be my favorite of your always wonderful porch! Adore those topiaries, too. Great post. ❤️
I love your entry SO much!
Thank you Mary Ann! Come visit!
This old black and white house looks stunning. I really like your porch designs and I love the salvaged wood in red hook the most. Thanks for sharing!
Would love to know your white exterior paint color. Desperately searching for the “right” one.
Do you happen to know where to find the exterior porch lights? So beautiful!
Where did the 3/4 glass black entry door come from? I’m assuming it’s all wood- beautiful!
Thanks,
Amy in NH
Hi Amy,
It’s very old…our house was built in 1900. Sorry I can’t be of more help! But thank you for stopping by!
Annie
what kind of plants are those in the planters?
Hello! I love your entry, specially the lighting, were did you purchase?
HI Kelly,
Sorry for the delayed response! Our house was built in 1900 and the lanterns appear very old with no markings on them. They appear to be hand-made. I would try Bevelo lighting. I used them on our house in California and they are gorgeous!
annie
Is your stair railing stained or painted? What color pretty please?
Hi Karri,
It’s painted a high gloss black. Thanks for reading!
annie
What type of plants those are in your planters??
Those are just boxwoods I found at Home Depot!
what kind of plants or trees are those on the featured picture?
They are just boxwoods that I found at Home Depot! Hopefully they will have them again this Spring.
Are they live?
Where would one find the New Yorker bag that’s hanging in your entryway?
Hi Melanie-
It’s free with a 12 week subscription! Here’s a link for you…https://subscribe.newyorker.com/subscribe/newyorker/109777?source=google_sem_dom_12f12TOTE&mbid=google_sem_dom_12f12TOTE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr7SQ4_7J2wIVkySBCh1bKA65EAAYASAAEgKvAvD_BwE
I am seriously obsessed with these wall lights! I wish I could find these somewhere. They don’t have a brand on them anywhere do they?
Hi Erin,
Our house was built in 1900 and the lanters could be original. They have no markings on them and appear hand-made. I would try Bevolo. We used them on our California house and they are beautifully made and they offer many styles sizes. Thanks for reading!
annie
Love your home. Is your front door original or did you purchase it somewhere?
It’s original, we think. But we purchased a similar door for our new (old) house at Rings End in Connecticut.
Would love to see where you bought the lights on your porch in the first picture above. They are wonderful.
HI Barbara- this was our former home built in 1900 and they appeared to be very old. They had no markings on them and appeared to be be hand made. I’m sorry I don’t have more information, but try Bevolo…they have beautiful copper lanterns and very well made. We used them on our California home.